Guide to Assessment and Coursework Assignments

Purpose of the Guide

What is the purpose of this guide? The focus of this guide is to tell you how you are going to be assessed throughout your degree course programme and to give some advice on how to do better on your coursework assignments. The way in which we assess your work will always be clear and transparent – no one is hiding anything. You will always be told up front what you need to do in order to do well. A large section of this handbook presents the Marking Criteria for Stage 2 where we clarify what you need to do in order to achieve each level of degree classification. Whilst these are specifically aimed at years two and three of the undergraduate degree, assessment criteria at first year and in postgraduate programmes align with these.

The handbook also offers important advice on writing and referencing. The information in this handbook will help you achieve higher grades. At the risk of stating the completely obvious, we advise you to read this handbook several times and particularly before you write a piece of coursework. Try to match the criteria to what you have written and, when you get a piece of marked coursework back, try to identify ways in which you can improve the next piece of work you submit making an action plan is a good idea. If you need support with understanding feedback and addressing the issues it raises, please speak to your Academic Advisor.

Please note, that our guidance is based on the APA (American Psychological Association) Publication Manual, which is a standard guide for people writing for publication in psychology and some other disciplines. Whilst you might say that you are not intending to submit your work for publication, we want to make sure you are equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills if you do submit for publication in academic journals further into your academic career. The full guidelines can be found in the book, The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Edition), which is available in the library, however.

First of all, some basic common-sense advice on writing better assignments. These are simple guidelines that apply to all coursework and are in accordance with the current American Psychological Association Version 6 (APA-6) recommendations. Submissions should use a 12-point font; margins should be 2.54cm (one inch) on the top, bottom, and  both sides; the right margin should be “ragged” i.e. not right justified; double line spacing should be used throughout, including block quotes and citations; the beginning of each paragraph should begin with one tab space (1.24cm - ½ inch); extra spaces or lines should not be inserted between paragraphs; page numbering should begin with the title page, and pages should be numbered in the top right corner.

You may be reminded of this format in assignment briefs, but this may not always be the case; if no other instructions are provided, you should follow this format. These guidelines have been given so that your work is easier for your marker to read and provide feedback on.You should note that although this guide is focused on written work, much of the advice will apply to oral presentations and, to a certain extent, poster presentations. Whilst guidance on formatting would be redundant, you should still consider your audience, be clear, signpost and have a conclusion. These are the areas to which this guide will now turn.

Although your only reader will normally be the person who marks your assignment,you should not assume that they know more about the matter than you do. Think of your reader as someone who is familiar with standard terminology, conventions, and procedures, but who happens to know nothing of the particular issue(s) you are addressing. So, for example, if you wrote that you used a between-subjects design, you wouldn’t bother explaining what that was because this is a standard term; however, if you wrote that you questioned the validity of the Confluence Influence hypothesis, you would clearly have to explain what this is.